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BBC Radio 3 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced Third Programme.

BBC Radio 3

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The Essay Podcast

The Essay

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Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

Leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond, themed across a week - insight, opinion and intellectual surprise.

The Essay: Visions of Mary

The Essay: Visions of Mary: Episode 5: Prof Diarmaid MacCulloch

Visions of Mary

Episode 5

Episode 5: Prof Diarmaid MacCulloch

Prof Diarmaid MacCulloch

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Diarmaid MacCulloch on how 16th-century Protestants dealt with the Virgin Mary's role.

Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch explores how 16th-century Protestants dealt with the role of the Virgin Mary, not wishing to jettison Catholic understanding of the creeds.

"How do you solve a problem like Maria?" sang the nuns in 'The Sound of Music', but 16th century Reformers faced a far trickier Maria problem. They were trying to both have their cake and eat it on the Blessed Virgin Mary: they wanted to be exponents of the new doctrine of sola scriptura (that the Bible contains all knowledge necessary for salvation and holiness), without jettisoning the Catholic understanding of the creeds. Very important things that lay at the heart of traditional Christianity could not be shown explicitly in the Bible. One of those core beliefs was that of the perpetual virginity of Mary. A few moments of scriptural perusal can tell you that this is a knotty proposition, as the Bible mentions Jesus's brothers and sisters, but to throw overboard centuries of church tradition was just too much for most Reformers. Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch, author of the award-winning book, 'A History of Christianity' shows how this seemingly abstruse matter of doctrine actually opens a window onto the psyche of Reformers and their relationship with Mary.

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Series in which academics discuss the Virgin Mary within and outside of Christianity

Series in which five academics discuss the Virgin Mary within and outside of Christianity

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Episode 5: Prof Diarmaid MacCulloch

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